Moorhead:
On the other side of the
river from Fargo is Moorhead, Minnesota.
Here the Hjemkomst Center houses two wonderful Scandinavian-inspired
structures!
The Hjemkomst Viking
Ship was built by Robert Asp, a descendant of Norwegian immigrants. His dream to return to the sea began in 1971
and on August 5, 1980 he realized this dream when he sailed the Hjemkomst
to the harbor of Duluth, Minnesota.
Sadly Asp died before sailing to Norway.
However, his family and friends pursued the dream, setting out from the
Great Lakes in May 1982 and reaching Oslo, Norway on August 9, 1982.
The other structure is the
Hopperstad Stave Church built by Guy Paulson in the 1990s. It is a full-scale replica of the original
church that is located in the town of Vik, Norway. Paulson did all of the carvings by
hand.
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Cloquet:
We made a quick stop to see the only gas
station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright!
The stepped cement blocks support a copper canopy which extends out 32
feet. A glass-walled observation lounge
anchors the cantilever while a tower reaches from the polygonal roof to a
height of 60 feet.
Lake Superior: Grand
Marais, MN
We spent a night in Grand
Marais, on the north side of Lake Superior. Besides beautiful views of the Lake
from our room, we also spotted this red fox.
Here are a few lake view
pictures:
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| Split Rock Lighthouse |
The southern part of Lake
Superior is actually in Wisconsin. We
visited part of Wisconsin last year but I want to include a bit about this area
around Lake Superior. Our Airbnb was a
farmhouse on an apple orchard near the town of Port Wing, Wisconsin.
This was a great location for exploring the
South Shore from Port Wing to Sand Bay and Red Cliff, where we could view the
Apostle Islands.
Minneapolis:
Minneapolis has lots of
wonderful art museums! I’ll just share a
few of my favorites from each of the museums we visited:
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden:
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| Back of Snowman by Gary Hume |
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| Without Words by Judith Shea |
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| Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch |
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Spoonbridge and Cherry
by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen
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Walker Art Center:
As a librarian, I really
appreciated this book of laser die-cut pages:
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| Your House by Olafur Eliasson |
Break time! We needed a diversion from the museums so we
decided to explore the Mall of America!
Plus I needed some new tennis shoes!
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| Amusement park with roller coaster in the Mall! |
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| Huge LEGO store! |
Minneapolis Institute of
Art:
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| Irises by Piet Mondrian |
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| Zenshin’an Tea House (full-scale replica) |
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| Musical Still Life by Theodore Roszak |
The Weisman Art Museum is
part of the University of Minnesota. The
building was designed by Frank Gehry:
This stunning sculpture just
inside of the Museum is also by Gehry:
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| Standing Glass Fish by Frank Gehry |
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| #27, Giverny by Charles Bierderman |
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Canon Synchromy (Orange)
by Stanton Macdonald-Wright
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I especially liked this work by Alan
Shepp. The artist is from California and
when he made a trip to Minnesota he decided to capture the misty feeling of the
North Shore, Lake Superior. He has used natural
materials – painting on slate and with an inlay of ash wood for the oar.
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| Self Portrait by Alan Shepp |
Owatonna:
Thanks Margaret C. for
telling me about this beautiful Wells Fargo Bank building that was designed by
Louis Sullivan! Sadly we were traveling
through on a Sunday and could not go inside. ☹
I love this mural painted on the side of the building next to Wells Fargo:
Blue Earth:
A fun stop on our way out of
Minnesota!
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| Jolly Green Giant |
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| Sprout |
Next week I’ll feature 2
states, related to corn!